Nine days and counting
Applications for this year's College of Comedy close at noon on the 24th, and the volume of submissions is increasing as the deadline approaches. Last year, as the clock ticked down, we watched entries arrive in the in-box as fast as it could handle them, a sight that may or may not be repeated this year, since the more stringent entry qualifications have led to a lower number of entries so far, albeit that many are of a very high quality. While we have come across some of the writers, the majority are from people new to us, and that is exciting in itself.
As we did last year, assessment will be in the form of an inverted pyramid, with more people being involved as the shortlisting progresses, ending with the most promising being read by the head of comedy, the creative director of the writersroom, and my executive colleagues in the comedy department, which will lead to interview invitations and then the final six.
Meanwhile, I've been doing an evaluation of the first year, looking at what worked and what might have worked better, drawing on the views of the first year 'students'. As a result, this year will be more rigorous in some areas, with strict script deadlines and parameters for how many characters and settings the scripts should involve.
There are plans to take the college on the road, with workshops in Northern Ireland and Scotland, and given that we will be running one workshop for the college writers rather than two, there will be some individual events. We also plan to link more with radio.
But first we have to find the six, a process to which I'm very much looking forward.
,
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~15~RS~)
Comments
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A workshop in Northern Ireland? Change it to the south of France and I'll think about popping an entry in. ;)
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Toujours gai, Aspie.
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moi aussie
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You want a workshop in the Antipodes?
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@All
You're making me visualise a massive initiatve here, where the College goes head to head with McKee across the world, and we duel over the negation of the negation from Cambridge England to Cambridge Mass.
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I like the idea of pan-Europe co-operation. Arrange a workshop on or around 28th April in Barcelona and I will be there, sitcom script in hand. Jose informs me he is more than happy to lead on a comedy writing workshop himself (and may be at a loose end come the summer anyway...) - so many comic 'bon mots' fall from his lips on a daily basis. He's a natural.
Mrs M
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@Mrs M
Or how about Rome at the end of May?
Incidentally, has anyone who visits here applied to be in the college? I'd be curious to know.
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I've decided not to apply this year. Looking at the winning entries from 2008, the bar is clearly far too high.
I'm just concentrating on getting my radio sitcom read by some of the indie companies. (It seems to be a harder job than writing the actual script)
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Is there an automated reply to the college of comedy email submission address? Only ask because it seemed to suggest there was but I mailed over a week ago now and never got one.
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Is it possible to send scripts directly to Sir Michael Jacob for his leisurely perusal?
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@Micheal,
Rome would indeed be the icing on the cake and would assuage the nightmare of Moscow last year. Every time I close my eyes I see JT slipping and missing that penalty. Oh how Chelsea haters laughed.
Like CURBLD, the bar is a tad too high for me this year re an entry to the College of Comedy. I'm just about to submit my first ever sitcom (aside from my marriage vows to Jose) to Radio 4 but still feel I have much to learn.
BTW, all the very best for tomorrow but I fear it will be a wasted coach journey to Wembley for the Gunners and their fans. He he he...
Mrs M
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helo clouds helo sky helo micealjacobb
i amm going to send sketshes to colege of commdey
but mi sketshes i rote are difrent kinds like stag and raydio not tele.
shud i mak them into tele sketshes, or wil i get chines burns if i send a bunsh of randomm stag and raydio format?
(mi sketshes are topp)
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It's nice to know you are still alive Micheal. Who nicked my Roger Rabbit trade mark. Is nothing sacred?
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###Looking at the winning entries from 2008, the bar is clearly far too high.###
Is there a link so I can read them?
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@DJ
Leah Chillery a playwright who currently has commissions with Nottingham Playhouse, the Eclipse Touring Theatre company, and Birmingham Rep. With BBC Comedy, Leah is developing a sitcom for BBC Three called Ebony's Yard.
Rob and Neil Gibbons are twins. They have projects in development with Baby Cow, Hat Trick and ITV Productions. They began as sketch writers, and have been developing narrative ideas since 2004. They are currently writing for Steve Coogan's stage show.
Catherine Shepherd is an actress who has appeared in many TV and radio comedies. She wrote and performed on the Peter Serafinowicz Show and Dog Face, contributed to two series of Concrete Cow on Radio 4, and has had an afternoon play broadcast.
Trippplicate are three women who have been working as a team since 2002 and have won glowing reviews for their Edinburgh shows. Morgan Lloyd Malcolm has strong affiliations with the Old Vic which include writing a play performed by Kevin Spacey and Thandie Newton. Verity Rose Woolnough directs live comedy and is a freelance writer working in advertising and PR. Katie Lyons is an actress who was a regular in Green Wing and co-starred in the award-winning Boy A. As Trippplicate, they are developing a new BBC Three project.
Andrew Viner has worked with Aardman, and has written extensively for children's television, notably on Bear Behaving Badly for CBBC, and Skatoony for the Cartoon Network.
John Warburton is a former journalist turned stand-up comedian and comedy writer. He is lead writer on a new sketch project being developed by Baby Cow in Manchester, has contributed to the Comedy North show Scallywagga, and is developing a sitcom pilot with Comedy North. '
If that helps.
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I think I'll book a place at the cemetery
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@Michael
I shall be popping an entry in this week, so try to contain your indifference! On the subject of submissions, if we're sending sketches, should we send them all "loose", or save them into one document?
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@Aspie - let us know it's from you.
@Whizz - radio or stage is fine.
@Mrs M - O how they laughed, o how we missed Manuel. I hope they like your radio sitcom - let me know how it goes.
@Twee - I have no leisure for perusing uninvited scripts, I'm afraid.
@MDBD - there is an automated response, but it only works once, so if you wrote in with a query, say, it wouldn't write back to you about your submission. Email the college address and we'll reassure you.
Apologies for tardiness - I was in Belfast yesterday.
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Hi Micheál
Is it possible to blog a bit about what the schedule of the college is? I mean, what's expected of the students day to day? Is the college their 9 to 5 as in the Writers' Academy? Do they have time to work on other projects over the year or does the college take up all their time?
Cheers.
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@Serronah
The College is set up differently from the Academy. There will be on residential workshop and some ad hoc events, plus a week's attachment to a production. There will also be script deadlines leading up to the closing showcase in March 2010. But there will be lots of time for people to work on other projects and earn a living.
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Dear Michael, Could you explain a little what is a workshop and what is the benefit of taking it on tour? Are events then open to the public?
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@Germinator
In our workshops last year we had talks from established writers; workshopped scripts; learnt about the what and who of production; explored character psychology; viewed and analysed comedy DVDs; and did a team-writing exercise. The plans I mentioned will involve selection rather than being open to the public.
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Do you provide overalls for these workshops, Michael? I'm not getting stains on my cool writer's trousers for anyone. Well almost anyone.
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@shining shadow
We have an exclusive arrangement with a company to manufacture coveralls which repel both tears and sick.
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...and bullsh*it, one hopes :)
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@shining shadow
Everybody knows that real writers wear muumuus and sandals. I know I do. ;)
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When 'Writersroom' invites submissions, would it be possible for updates to be posted to inform us, if or when applicants will receive an acknowledgement and/or any response?
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@the_germinator
If you've emailed your submission, you should have received an automated reply of acknowledgement.
The original blurb says that shortlisted candidates will be informed by 18th May.
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@the_germinator
The BBC College of Comedy isn't part of the writersroom, so I'm not sure if your query relates to the college or the room. If it's to the college, then there have been some problems with the automated reply, so if you have submitted and didn't receive an acknowledgement, email the college and we'll let you know.
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Anyone else obsessively checking this blog entry for crumbs of news about how the process is going?
Or should I just get back to work, so I still have a job to get on with once I also stop obsessively checking my email inbox and spam folder on 19 May (giving it an extra day as emails can sometimes get delayed, y'know)?
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@ TheloniousMonkhouse
Have found it's better to completely put these things out of your head as soon as the application has made its entry into cyberspace - helps to keep my sanity almost intact (such as it is).
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...although the fact that I've actually just been on this blog and left that comment would suggest that I have a problem following my own advice...
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I'm not sure if this is going to help anyone's neurosis, but the reading is progressing well, and we've got a longlonglist, which colleagues are now going through to help reduce it to a longlist. Raising the standard of qualification has meant that it's an even more competitive field than last year, with some excellent applications. I'll do another blog when there's more to say.
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@Serronah. It's nice to know I'm not entirely alone -- once we admit these things, we can get help.
Sensible idea you have, but if I wasn't on here, I'd just be checking how that swine flu is getting around...
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@MichealJacob. Thanks for feeding my addiction.
I suspect that 'an even more competitive field than last year' is all I need to know. Back to checking up on the poorly porkers...
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All this talk about if we should regularly check for updates on the College whittling down process is starting to put me in a real fuddle.
The question I am starting to ask myself is 'Is it better to live in a world of hope or a dark world world without hope only doom?' I live in Enfield so the latter comes naturally.
However, I suppose it is better just to think about other things. Atleast it's the Bank Holiday weekend. I only hope it's sunny like the Weather people say it will be. But it probably won't be and I wish I had spent more time on page nine and ten of my College entry.
It's too late...Doooom Dooom! My entry is Dooomed!
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There will be an update at the end of next week, so rest easy!
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